World Darts

Hotels, transport, player’s friends and family to look after, security, guest passes, catering, car-parking, etc! The list of things is endless and for darts blue ribbon event, everything has to be spot on.

The whole event has been more than a year in the making and it is the biggest show ever put on by the PDC, who have around 30 staff on site here at the Alexandra Palace. The security team is 35-strong and interestingly, under strict new guidelines, all those security staff have to be approved by their governing body – the Security Industries Association!

Well, they are doing a fine job in making sure everyone has a good time and nobody steps out of line.

The Alexandra Palace is so huge, it is taking everyone some time to get their bearings. Players have been walking through the wrong doors but thankfully, they haven’t got lost on their way to the stage……yet!

Young qualifier Jamie Caven is one of the big success stories of the tournament so far. He beat Wes Newton to line up a mouthwatering 2nd Round clash with the flamboyant Wayne Mardle…..and Caven’s achievements are all the more remarkable, when you consider that he is blind in one eye.

Caven lost the sight in his right eye as a baby but hasn’t let his disability get in the way of his chosen sport…..because he is right-handed, he can’t actually see the dart leaving his hand but they are certainly finding their targets!

One of the real characters is the diminutive man from the Philippines Rizal Barellano.
He may have lost his preliminary round match against Miloslav Navratil from the Czech Republic but what a journey he’s had.

Nicknamed ‘Jo Jo’ he lives in one of the remotest islands of the Philippines and he had to sell his taxi to fund his trip to the World Championship qualifiers in Manilla…..coming to London is only the second time he has been outside his country and the £2,500 prize money is the equivalent to two-and-a-half years salary back home.

He’ll certainly be able to afford a brand new taxi when he gets home!

Finally for now, you may have noticed Sky Sports new innovation at the World Championship…..Sky is using 24 cameras at the event, including an ultra-motion, which slows down the frame so much, you can get up close and personal with all the player’s reactions on the stage.

It runs at 150 frames per second, which in plain speak, slows the action down seven times.